Chase Closed My Account & Took My Points. HELP!

A brief synopsis of my story:
I had a Chase checking account for the past 5 years. It never held much of a balance (if any, at all) due to awful interest rates. I keep all of my money in two credit unions that pay awesome interest rates and withdraw cash from them to pay off my bills at Chase. Chase compliance shut my checking account down because of the cash deposits. One month later, with no warning, I received a letter in the mail saying my credit card account was being closed immediately. As soon as that happened, my 155,000 Chase UR points disappeared. An agent told me once retail severed it's relationship with me, they instructed Credit Cards to do the same.

I've been advised to contact the office of President to find out about getting my points but that it was a long shot. I was wondering what tone to take in the letter...nice, demanding, threatening legal action, threatening PR problems, etc. Even if I can't transfer 155,000 UR to UA which I would normally do, that's still 2,000 in redemptions at 1.25 cents which UA took from me. Only 40 of the 155 were in sign up bonuses...everything else was in spend so I feel like I'm entitled to at least those. Any thoughts, suggestions, tips are welcome.

Also...if you want to link to this on a blog, etc. give me a PM as a heads up before you do.

Compliance was concerned because they didn't know where the cash was coming from. (I guess) Apparently cash deposits also go hand-in-hand with other nefarious activities that they have to answer to the gov't about.

There's too much missing information. Were the cash deposits over 10k? Did Chase close your business or personal cards? What type of purchases did you have on your cc? How is your credit history? Does your income reflect your ability to pay your cc bills? I don't believe Chase would close your account unless there were red flags or concerns that you were high risk. You may receive a check for the value of your UR, but I would not count on it. Chase has no obligation to do so ,but I have read elsewhere with those who had their account closed they were able to get reimbursed for the value of their UR points.

There's too much missing information. Were the cash deposits over 10k? Did Chase close your business or personal cards? What type of purchases did you have on your cc? How is your credit history? Does your income reflect your ability to pay your cc bills? I don't believe Chase would close your account unless there were red flags or concerns that you were high risk. You may receive a check for the value of your UR, but I would not count on it. Chase has no obligation to do so ,but I have read elsewhere with those who had their account closed they were able to get reimbursed for the value of their UR points.

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Chase closed both Ink + Sapphire. Purchases were 80% travel and 20% other things. Cash deposits were never in excess of $10,000 in one shot or even in a couple of days. Credit history is spotless, albeit relatively new. Keep in mind that the excessive spending was just May, June, July, it has since normalized to ~3,000 a month which is way under my credit limit. From what Chase told me they had no issues with my CC but when one relationship goes bad (retail) they have to sever all relationships.

Why didn't you just pay the credit cards on the chase.com site by pulling the money straight out of your credit union accounts? I have a Chase checking account (from the days of the 25k Continental account bonus; really need to get rid of it as it serves no real purpose) and a credit union account, and I have set up my credit card accounts on chase.com to be paid from them.

I would send a polite letter, inquire why your bank account was closed, and request that the points you have legitimately earned be transferred to your United (or whatever) account.

How much cash are we talking about? And was it really cash or an electronic funds transfer? The bank IS legally required to report deposits above a certain amount, and large, frequent transfers that sit there for no more than a day or two are going to look suspicious.

Personally, I have checking and savings accounts with Chase but my primary accounts are with Wells Fargo. There's no need to transfer money to Chase before I pay my bills. I just ask Wells Fargo to send a bill payment. Maybe your credit unions don't offer that feature, but then perhaps that's how they're able to afford giving you higher interest rates.

Even if I can't transfer 155,000 UR to UA which I would normally do, that's still 2,000 in redemptions at 1.25 cents which UA took from me. Only 40 of the 155 were in sign up bonuses...everything else was in spend so I feel like I'm entitled to at least those. Any thoughts, suggestions, tips are welcome.

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You are at least entitled to cash, probably 1 cent per point. But the letter may complicate things. Did they send the letter before or after closing the account? When I got a similar letter, I had about four days before my Sapphire Preferred card was closed, and I had to act within that time.

You are at least entitled to cash, probably 1 cent per point. But the letter may complicate things. Did they send the letter before or after closing the account? When I got a similar letter, I had about four days before my Sapphire Preferred card was closed, and I had to act within that time.

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The letter was dated 1/4/13. Received 1/6/13. I first noticed something was up on 1/4 when I charged and was declined but figured that was just a fraud alert. The issue was never that the CU can't do bill pay, but that it wouldn't happen fast enough to free up credit line to continue to spend. That's why it had to be cash.

Regardless of the circumstances with the checking account, looting a customer's UR account should mark a new low for Chase. As far as your response, I feel that threats are generally ineffective. If you feel there are actions at your disposal, just go ahead and take them all in parallel. I suggest that you keep your communications with Chase factual and unemotional, while generating negative publicity for them elsewhere.

Regardless of the circumstances with the checking account, looting a customer's UR account should mark a new low for Chase.

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Actually just closing the account by itself & voiding the financial institution's reward system to me is just a slap of the wrist if Chase really believed the OP committed some sort of BSA crime. However if that was the case OP should have Secret Service and/or other Federal Agency contacting him soon... I think Chase just is protecting itself and probably has a long looked @ OP and his history. They just want to severe ties and prevent any further damage that could come to them.

I believe the op has posted a similar thread in FT. One thing he mentions there is that he used cash because he was paying the cc off every few days and could not wait for an electronic payment to happen. Spending 5 or so times your credit limit for a few months would definitely get their attention. He also, in that thread, mentions that he kept a very low balance in his checking account. Another red flag when you are running a lot of cash through an account.

I believe the op has posted a similar thread in FT. One thing he mentions there is that he used cash because he was paying the cc off every few days and could not wait for an electronic payment to happen. Spending 5 or so times your credit limit for a few months would definitely get their attention. He also, in that thread, mentions that he kept a very low balance in his checking account. Another red flag when you are running a lot of cash through an account.

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Correct. I'm trying to get as many opinions here as I'm kind of in no man's land. I am not disputing Chase should have closed my checking account. By all means, what I did was shady-looking and looking back, I definitely wouldn't have done it again. I'm sure I got closed over BSA concerns although I never got close to the thresholds. According to my year end summary, I did 50k in spend, with 20k of that in the month of June on my CSP and 25k in spend, 15k of that in the month of June on my MPC, so I turned over my credit limit about 2.5x in that month, but that was the only month with egregious spending.

My problem is that when they severed my retail relationship they gave me a month to settle my affairs before closing the account. With credit there was no chance to move points or warning. I was supposed to have been in Asia this week. I would have been truly screwed if this was my one overseas credit card and it got shut down without warning. That's my issue.

Correct. I'm trying to get as many opinions here as I'm kind of in no man's land. I am not disputing Chase should have closed my checking account. By all means, what I did was shady-looking and looking back, I definitely wouldn't have done it again. I'm sure I got closed over BSA concerns although I never got close to the thresholds.

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The thresholds you are talking about are purely guidelines... if you werent doing something like this on a regular basis or they had no history of this with you, then they had to have investigated you, either internally or submitted a SAR to the feds. Either way they wanted to cut their ties with you before any further action/activity took place.

It may help to go into an actual branch and speak directly with a personal banker. They are generally very helpful, and seem to have more authority to make things right, than telephone representatives.

Correct. I'm trying to get as many opinions here as I'm kind of in no man's land. I am not disputing Chase should have closed my checking account. By all means, what I did was shady-looking and looking back, I definitely wouldn't have done it again. I'm sure I got closed over BSA concerns although I never got close to the thresholds. According to my year end summary, I did 50k in spend, with 20k of that in the month of June on my CSP and 25k in spend, 15k of that in the month of June on my MPC, so I turned over my credit limit about 2.5x in that month, but that was the only month with egregious spending.

My problem is that when they severed my retail relationship they gave me a month to settle my affairs before closing the account. With credit there was no chance to move points or warning. I was supposed to have been in Asia this week. I would have been truly screwed if this was my one overseas credit card and it got shut down without warning. That's my issue.

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I had the exact same issue with chase. They closed my personal bank accounts ( not my business accts ) and closed all my credit cards. I contacted them via the online site and threatened to sue them for the points that my wife and I had legally obtained. They within three days put the points in our British Airways accts. They did not re-open our accounts and I decided to close all but one of my business accounts with them.

This all happened because of cash deposits when I was buying coins from the US Mint during the fun days of dollar coin mileage purchases.

Chase is the most high handed, obnoxious bank EVER. They closed my cc and confiscated my points (that they had been paid for by the merchant) on a cc with NO warning a few years ago. NEVER would say why (got a different story every time I called). apparently it is their ball and they get to "take it home" whenever they want without any oversight or regulation. I am extremely sad that they seem to have almost all the airline and hotels

The letter was dated 1/4/13. Received 1/6/13. I first noticed something was up on 1/4 when I charged and was declined but figured that was just a fraud alert. The issue was never that the CU can't do bill pay, but that it wouldn't happen fast enough to free up credit line to continue to spend. That's why it had to be cash.

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Let me see if I understand this -- you were going into a branch and making a lot of deposits -- if so an officer at that branch should be able to tell you why they decided to stop doing business with you.

I wouldn't send any threatening letters until you have all the pieces of the puzzle.

By all means, what I did was shady-looking and looking back, I definitely wouldn't have done it again. I'm sure I got closed over BSA concerns although I never got close to the thresholds. According to my year end summary, I did 50k in spend, with 20k of that in the month of June on my CSP and 25k in spend, 15k of that in the month of June on my MPC, so I turned over my credit limit about 2.5x in that month, but that was the only month with egregious spending.

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You agree with Chase closing your checking account due to the shady-looking transactions. If you were willing to do shady transactions on your checking account, what would make Chase believe you would not do other shady things with your credit card?

I would write a very polite letter to the Chase President explaining the entire situation and requesting that they reinstate your miles and transfer the points to your UA account.

It may help to go into an actual branch and speak directly with a personal banker. They are generally very helpful, and seem to have more authority to make things right, than telephone representatives.

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deant said:

I would write a very polite letter to the Chase President explaining the entire situation and requesting that they reinstate your miles and transfer the points to your UA account.

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I believe that polite responses, in person if possible, will go much future than demands. If you do not get the response you want then you can always play hard ball later.

Try the bank route first. If you were doing something you are not proud of you will be in a weaker position than if you were doing something you can feel good about explaining.

I had all my accounts nuked by Chase. I have found when they sever ties they sever all.
If you are doing large and strange cash deposits I bet you had a few SARs filed and internally they decided you were a greater risk then potential income generator. Even if it was a result of a SAR they will not tell you that, you will probably get a very vague explanation that could cover different things.

Legal action will get you nowhere as they legal up and will not talk to you directly and then they will read you some patriot act bs about why they can't tell you anything.

if you ever want credit from Chase again, wait a year. My guess is you will get denied with reasoning of derog history with bank. This can usually be overridden if you have an assets account and have teh bank manager fax in showing you have 10k+ in assets. They do not need to stay but would have to be showing for this purpose.

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